Automotive carpet is horrible. It looks bad and feels bad. I don't want the usual cut pile crap. The only stuff I found that I like is the Daytona style from ACC. The problem with that is that you can only get the material and then you have to cut and sew it to get it in the car. I have no experience with sewing carpet nor have I seen cut and sewn carpet but since the Daytona fabric has a pattern to it, I would think that by cutting and sewing it the pattern will get messed up and ultimately look like poop.

I was thinking of doing the Daytona material along the periphery of the car and then have some other material where your feet go. It would be like permanent floor mats. I don't know what material I would use, though. Diamond plate would look cheesy. So would carbon fiber. Car carpet sucks. Wood would look dumb. I could have a glass bottom car. That would be cool. Plastic is cheesy. I don't know what to do. I'm thinking metal would be the way to go, but I would have to make it incognito so I don't have metal screaming, "Look at me."

So what else is out there?

I'm not adverse to carpet if I find some I like, I just don't think there is any out there that I'll like.

 

So now I'm thinking permanent leather floor mat kind of deal. Anyone have any experience with leather floor mats? Do they last long? It would be some thick-a** leather. So let me know what you guys n' gals think.

 

Leather? Diamond plate? Glass? Plastic? Very creative but I would stick to carpet--buy the stuff from ACC and pay someone to cut and sew it.

 

Funny that u post this topic.
I DONT LIKE THE CARPET ON MY FLOOR!!! I could not find any thing else that seemed to work. I am doing all the interior in a FLAT BLACK painted fiberglass. The seats are RED from a 98 maro. I recently began removing all of my NT. I just finished molds for my door pannels, floor and parts of the dash and console. The materials where about $100 all together.

I will post pics after I have the floor/door pannels in and painted, NO CARPET ALL FIBERGLASS! YESSSS!!!!

 

Carpet.

 

Damn you guys are helpful! I am in your debt. Is there anything I could do to repay you for your wisdom?

I decided on one of two/three things. Leather, or coco/sisal. I guess it will sort of be like having floor mats except it won't look like crap. The rest of my interior is gonna be leather and gunmetal aluminum so it'll work.

I made the mistake of asking for opinions before. If you like it, cool. You don't, cool.

@blake: Yea I was thinking of remaking the interior panels out of fiberglass and then covering them with leather. I didn't want to just cover the plastic panels because it would feel flimsy and cheesy. Start a thread on that. You'll get crap for thinking differently but some of us will be interested.

 

You could also put the patch of desired protection in there with the snaps that they use on tonnau (sp?) covers for trucks. That way whatever thing you decide to put down for protection will also come out for ease of cleaning later on, trust me it'll be worth it. I used to detail cars and everything that came out of an interior, did. It's just so much easier on the cleaning end of this discussion.

 

Yea I was thinking of having an oversized rubber backing on whatever material I used that would slip underneath the surrounding carpet. That way I could pull it out to clean it and it would be seamless while it was in. I'm not familiar with the snaps you're talking about. Are they just round, metal button snaps?

 

...well you've got guys on here painting their cars with rollers, so I guess this shouldn't be too bad in comparison.

...and it's not your desire to go against the grain, it's your declaration that automotive carpet is horrible, and looks like crap. Remember that regardless of YOUR opinion, most of US think it looks pretty good.

 

Regardless of YOUR oppinion and your need to voice it in a non-PM manner, he is asking a question. The idea of this forum is to be helpful right Moderator? It is his thread, you chose to read it, thank you for expressing your 1st amendment rights, have a good night.

As for the snaps, they're like snaps on a jacket, except a bit more heavy duty so they need a little more pressure to seperate. They're circular, and some jeans I thinkhave them instead of buttons, but the technical name has definitely eluded me.

 

True. I was a bit harsh on the carpet. It just seems like every time I post up an idea or question about something that I want to do that is out of the ordinary, I get responses that basically say, "You're an idiot. Why are you even wasting your time?" Maybe that wasn't your message, but it's how it comes across to me. And trust me, if I do something, I'm going to do it right. I just plopped down $8000 on a paintjob and am budgeting $5000 for the interior. Nothing gets half a**ed with me.

 

Nor should it, I personally like the look of micro suede for my own vehicle but I don't think it would hold up on the floor haha.

 

Oh yea, I forgot to say I'm using nubuck in my interior, too. Inserts on the seats and headliner.

Nubuck might work on the floor. It would get mashed down pretty quickly, though. Would be high maintenance to the max.

 

I know how you feel. I want to incorporate microfiber on my door panels where the were gray carpeted, and somehow on the floor. I doubt it though so my next best thing I think is brand new black carpet.

 

My initial response of "Carpet" was in fact an answer to the QUESTION: So what else is out there?

Kinda seemed like the OP listed a bunch of things he didn't want to use, and to me, the logical answer to his QUESTION, was to not reinvent the wheel and use, as I said: Carpet.

Yes, I know he didn't want to use carpet. It was tongue in cheek. I apologize for all those I offended. I didn't realize how much damage I had done. I'll keep my hatespeech out of this thread from here on out.

 

I agree.. car carpet does suck... How about some rhino liner ?

http://www.omnipotent-goku.com/iroc/gallery/album100

seriously.. definitely keeps the rust out!!

 

^^^ Acts as a sound deadener too

 

i think the carpet in the doorpanels and cargo area is too high, but it would be interesting what you come up with...except rhinoliner.

 

I am in the process of sound deadening the whole car with raammat. I was thinking of using the duplicolor spray on truck bed liner on some parts of my car like the trunk and maybe dash. I wouldn't use it as the main flooring, though.

 

But if your interior gets dirty, you can hose it out

 

I wouldn't spray it on the dash. it will look too rugged for a dash.

 

Ive never really seen anything other than carpet on the floors. You could look into denim if you wanted cloth. Neoprene is another good cloth. Leather would look nice but would be über expensive. Diamond plate might turn out good but I would only use it in horizontal surfaces. And I would cover it somewhat at the edges. Good luck figuring of out. Is there any chance you just haven't seen/felt high quality carpet? There are alternatives to standard cut pile carpet

 

It's almost certain that I haven't seen high quality carpet, but I've looked all over the internet trying to find someone who used a different kind of carpet with no luck. I got samples of almost all the carpet types from ACC, but the "Daytona" style is the only one I like. I feel like it would wear out pretty fast, though, hence my idea to use it just around the edges. What I want in a carpet is tight fibers, low height and just tidy looking. I know leather would be expensive, but that is why I work. Plus, it would only be floor mat sized pieces.

 

At the risk of seeming trivial, the problem w/ auto carpet
is the contours. Construction involves vacuum-forming,
and so there is an upper limit to the thickness of input
material that can be used. My experience is limited, but
I have never seen a unit of sections fastened together,
that didn't look like a jigsaw puzzle assembled with a hammer.

That being said, there is SOME carpet weight difference available
in replacement units -- obviously heavier will be more expensive.
If you have thoroughly researched this, then caveat emptor.
(Latin for "Gonna have to withstand a torrent of gas-bags.")

Consider this suggestion. Build liners out of fiberglass.
Do it in sections, use good (i.e. not cheap) marine components
and make it at least 1/4" thick (using f-g cloth). Tinting can be
added for coloration. Make them removable for service/cleaning.
Then you can make custom mats out of the carpet of your choice
to cover the large flat areas

Lotta work, but it will definitely be unique.

I'm gonna use the bed-liner spray on the all the underside.
Lizard Skin is a really hi-end (read: expensive) spray-on.

 

lol glad im not the only one that thought of Rhino liner...

 

what about corduroy? not necessarily for carpet but maybe on the door panel or on the seat. or carpet if you really wanted, but i think it would look pretty nice on a door panel.

 

Oh. I like that idea. That's something I've seen before but totally forgot about. I wouldn't use it as carpet but I might use it elsewhere on the car.

I have pretty much set my mind on Daytona for the hump and periphery and sisal for the floor mat area. Black for both of them. I'm still not sure what I will use for the trunk area, though. Needs to be something very durable. Maybe bed liner sprayed on something that would go over the metal. I don't want to put that stuff directly on the car.